Campaigner blasts council over state of Rivermead Leisure Centre

Colin Lee, who has battled for improvements in the borough leisure centres for many years, asked the committee why the "former jewel in the crown of Reading Sport and Leisure" had declined in revenue and profits

Reading Borough Council has agreed to spend £1.2 million on a synthetic football/hockey pitch, upgraded heating and refurbished wetside changing facilities at Rivermead

Share

A Whitley campaigner claimed Rivermead Leisure Centre was "a shadow of its former self" at a policy committee meeting on Monday.

Colin Lee, who has battled for improvements in the borough leisure centres for many years, asked the committee why the "former jewel in the crown of Reading Sport and Leisure" had declined in revenue and profits.

He also raised concerns about the effects of staff redundancies in sport and leisure and what he described as "the decline over the last five years" in other leisure centres like Arthur Hill, the derelict Kings Meadow Baths and Highdown which he said was to be run independently for the school.

He singled out the exception of AcademySport which runs the old South Reading Leisure Centre in Northumberland Avenue in Whitley which is Mr Lee's local centre which he said "doing extremely well".

He said: "Nevertheless it is true to say that the environment of all leisure centres is currently a challenging one not least because of the level of competition in the market from the new breed of low-cost gyms of which Reading has a significant number.

"Partly in recognition of this difficult environment, the council is working closely with GLL to improve facilities at Rivermead."

He said the council has agreed to spend £1.2 million on a synthetic football/hockey pitch, upgraded heating and refurbished wetside changing facilities at Rivermead.

Cllr Gittings went on: "If Mr Lee had visited the site recently, he will have noticed that the works to replace the synthetic pitch are well underway and the new facility will open for public use in October.

"The other improvements are scheduled for later in the year to minimise disruption to customers.

"These and other potential improvements at Rivermead are the subject of ongoing dialogue between GLL and the council and reflective of a positive partnership approach that continues to provide good value for money."

When Mr Lee asked for details of the revenue in the interests of transparency he was told council officers would have to look at whether they could give him details or whether they were commercially sensitive.

Mr Lee was told the latest round of redundancies had no impact on the success of the council's sport and leisure policies.

Cllr Gittings said: "In fact rather the reverse as we are currently in the process of reconfiguring the leisure and recreation service to make it more resilient and to further exploit the opportunities we now have as a result of the new responsibilities for public health."

He said the council had been able to develop the Beat the Street "walking initiative" for 18 months by combining resources from transport, leisure and public health budgets.

Cllr Gittings said the council was also working closely with Sport England on a strategic review of leisure facilities "with a view to identifying how we can best meet needs and aspirations".

He added: "In this context, I can provide absolute reassurances about the council's commitment to sport and leisure into the future."